Bill to reduce kids’ sugar intake while dining out advances

The state Legislature is moving forward with an initiative to reduce kids’ sugar intake at restaurants.

The Senate committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health on Wednesday moved along Senate Bill 549, which would require restaurants that sell children’s meals with a beverage to offer water, milk or another low-calorie drink.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D-West Maui-South Maui), looks to promote healthier lifestyles for children by replacing sugary drinks with healthier options when families go out to eat.

If the buyers of a children’s meal prefer a sugar-­sweetened beverage for a child, the restaurant still would be allowed to sell one to them.

The bill was approved by the committee Wednesday, and would allow the state Department of Health to fine violators up to $1,000 per day for failing to comply.

About 90 pages of written testimony were submitted for Wednesday’s hearing, and none of it opposed the bill.

The Hawaii Public Health Institute said in its testimony that sugar-sweetened beverages — or SSBs — “contribute to a poor diet and are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay.”

The Health Department said in its testimony that SSBs “have been identified by numerous scientific studies as a major contributor to our costly obesity epidemic.”

About $470 million is spent annually on medical costs related to obesity in Hawaii, while $770 million is spent treating diabetes, according to DOH. A study by the department showed that more than half of adolescents in the state consume a sweetened drink each day, and 94 percent of teens do so at least once a week.

A DOH spokesperson said that “if you don’t intervene, over half our children nationally — about 60 percent — will be obese by the time they’re 35 years of age, and so in terms of providing healthy beverages … in a children’s menu would be a way to help parents then provide those healthy options for children.”

The Hawaii Restaurant Association said that the bill may be unnecessary, noting that major brands such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Big City Diner and Zippy’s already offer healthier children’s meal options that include a healthier beverage.

SB 549 is nearly identical to a bill passed last September in California, which was the first state to pass such a law.